Petition calls for action on closed Keim Street Bridge

Vegetation is beginning to cover the closed Keim Street Bridge, as seen from the North Coventry side. Photo by Evan Brandt/The Mercury

NORTH COVENTRY — Business owners on the North Coventry side of the Keim Street Bridge have collected nearly 3,000 signatures on a petition calling for the replacement of the closed and slowly rusting span.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Beth Werner, who owns the Good Dogs Spa & Studio in the Highland Center at South Keim Street’s intersection with Route 724.

“But everybody wants the bridge back,” she said.

People have been signing the petition in her store, the laundry next door and Reflections Hair Salon. All three businesses are owned by siblings.

On Friday, Jessica Willingham, public relations coordinator for the Montgomery County Commissioners Office, replied to Mercury inquiries with an e-mail that read: “The county is in the historic review stage with PennDOT and the local stakeholders to see if the bridge can be rehabbed or if it needs to be totally replaced.”

Although her petition calls for a new bridge, as far as Werner is concerned, fixing the one that stands there would be just as good, whatever would be done most quickly.

“I mean look how quickly they replaced the High Street Bridge in Pottstown,” said Werner, who lives in the borough and commutes every day to her store. “Why can’t they just fix it?”

Werner said all three business have felt the economic impact of the closure, “and now that Route 422 is all torn up, it’s even worse,” she said in reference to the construction work at the Armand Hammer Boulevard interchange and the pending replacement of that bridge over the Schuylkill River.

“People from Pottstown don’t want to be bothered getting on 422 or going over to Hanover Street, it’s out of their way,” Werner said.

Safety is another reason to get the project moving, said Werner.

“People are using it, as pedestrians and on bikes, we can see them from here,” she said. “That bridge has holes in it now, someone is going to fall through if they don’t fix it.”

The petition reads as follows: “We, the residents, business owners, and commuters in the Pottstown and surrounding areas that use the Keim Street Bridge are petitioning the state and local officials to replace the Keim Street Bridge with a new structure. We are opposed to the plan of ‘straightening Keim Street.” That project will cost millions, take years to start and complete, required unneeded and unwanted changes to roadways, take property and added loss of business to the people of the area. The Route 100 bridge was repaired, the Stowe/Pottstown bridge was replaced and now the Route 422 bridge is being repaired. it has been more than two years since our bridge has been closed. We demand our bridge be reconstructed in its existing location.”

Anyone who wants to sign the petition should visit one of the shops in Highland Center.

Anyone interested in gathering signatures for the petition can contact Werner via e-mail at groomme@gooddogsspaandstudio.com or via phone at 610-323-1778.

About the Author

Evan Brandt has worked for The Mercury since November 1997. His beat includes Pottstown, the surrounding townships and the Pottstown and Pottsgrove school districts, as well as other varied general topics like politics, the environment and education. Reach the author at ebrandt@pottsmerc.com
or follow Evan on Twitter: @PottstownNews.